A Top 10 List Of 15 From The Man Of Gold

October 13, 1991

Asked to devise a list of Top 10 records that he played a large role in introducing during his long career with Capitol Records, Merv Amols came up with 15.

Well, he was a promotion man for 40 years. "It's an honest list," he adds, as if pitching to a radio program director. "I can't lie!" 1. "To the Door of the Sun"; Al Martino. Amols discovered an Italian import single, "Alle Porte Del Sole" that was popular on a New Haven station; he suggested Martino, whose career was languishing, record it with English lyrics. Amols got executive producer credit on the single, which hit No. 17 in 1975 -- Martino's first Top 20 hit in a decade.

2. "I Am Woman"; Helen Reddy. "I was practically thrown out of stations for promoting this record. We worked it for 32 weeks, then suddenly it was a hit." Although Reddy and her producer husband Jeff Ward were grateful for the No. 1 hit in 1972, which had already dropped off the chart once after getting only as high as No. 97, Amols is still steamed about being snubbed by the singer when she appeared at the Oakdale Musical Theatre years later. 3. "Young Love"; Sonny James. The No. 1 hit in early 1957 came at a time when Top 40 radio was open to music of other genres -- provided the song was good. It was also a time when Hartford was an influential enough market to break a record. Along these lines, Amols also takes partial credit for Ferlin Husky's No. 4 pop hit, "Gone" in 1957. These days, Garth Brooks can top the pop album charts and still never be heard on Top 40. 4. "Goin' Out of My Head/Can't Take My Eyes Off You"; The Lettermen. A 1967 medley of two cover songs, recorded live, that proved to be the second -- and last -- Top 10 hit by the clean-cut vocal group, whom Amols once got to perform at the opening of a Caldor in Norwalk. 5. "Return to Me"; Dean Martin. Amols admits that Martin, whose No. 4 hit from 1958 was one of a couple of singles he helped chart, "couldn't sing for beans, but he could sell records." 6. "Hooked on a Feeling"; Blue Swede. The bizarre 1973 reworking of a B.J. Thomas hit by an obscure Swedish band, using a primitive-sounding "ooka-chucka" chorus, was single-handedly made a hit by Amols when he convinced WDRC program director Charlie Parker to play it, which he did incessantly. He played nothing but the "ooka-chucka" part,

over and over for a half hour, causing Hartford police to investigate whether the disc jockey had keeled over on the job. The next year, it went No. 1 nationally. "I get a reputation for breaking one act," Amols deadpans, "and the band goes into oblivion." 7. "Solid (As a Rock)"; Ashford & Simpson. Amols prides himself on working r & b acts as well, and this 1985 single was the songwriting team's biggest hit. For his part, Amols was sent a gold chain by the duo. 8. "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love"; Peabo Bryson, Roberta Flack. "I worked that song for four months. Radio insisted it wasn't a hit, but finally I got it on." The 1983 ballad, which hit No. 17 nationally, turned out to be Bryson's first pop crossover success. 9. "Danny's Song"; Anne Murray. Murray's No. 7 version of the Kenny Loggins ballad in 1973 was the second hit for Murray. Amols tried vehemently throughout Murray's career to break her out of her country station stereotype. 10. "Danke Shoen"; Wayne Newton. The first hit for the 16-year-old singer, who would become the toast of Las Vegas, was broken in part by a huge promotional effort in Buffalo, N.Y. "That was a one-man crusade," Amols says. "I saw that kid and I knew he had what it takes." It reached No. 13 nationally in the summer of 1963. 11. "Only Sixteen"; Dr. Hook. A station in New London, at Amols insistence, helped break this 1976 remake, which eventually hit No. 6 nationally -- a far better showing than the Sam Cooke original, which reached only No. 28 in 1959. As a result, Amols awarded the station its first gold record in thanks. 13. "Ode to Billy Joe"; Bobbie Gentry. The haunting story song, in 1967, went straight to No. 1 in the summer of love. "Another one-hit wonder," says Amols. 14. "Tiger by the Tail"; Buck Owens. "WDRC broke that one," says Amols, of the country star's only pop crossover hit, in the midst of 1965 Beatlemania. 15. "Wichita Lineman"; Glen Campbell. "We worked this song for weeks and weeks and weeks, but it made him a hit," Amols says of the No. 3 hit in 1968.